Army claims operation was a success but WHO says patients were killed and over 100 remain in compound
Israeli forces announced on Monday their withdrawal from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza after a two-week raid, with Palestinians describing the extensive destruction left behind by the army and bodies scattered in the dirt of the complex.
According to the Israel Defense Forces, the facility – Gaza City’s main hospital before the war – was used to harbour Hamas fighters. The army described the operation as one of the most successful of the nearly six-month conflict and cited the killing of scores of militants including senior operatives.
However, the UN health agency said several hospital patients had died and dozens were put at risk during the raid. Palestinians who fled the facility described days of heavy fighting, mass arrests and forced marches past dead people.
According to a statement by the World Health Organization director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, published on X in the late hours of Sunday, at least 21 individuals died during the military operation with more than 100 patients still remaining in the compound, at least 28 in critical condition.
“Among the patients are four children, lacking necessary means of care – no diapers, urine bags, water to clean wounds,” Ghebreyesus wrote. “Many have infected wounds and are dehydrated. Since yesterday only one bottle of water remains for every 15 people.”
Video footage circulating online showed heavily damaged and charred buildings, mounds of dirt that had been churned up by bulldozers, and patients on stretchers in darkened corridors, the Associated Press reported.
R Adm Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesperson, said Hamas had established its main northern headquarters inside the hospital and blamed the Palestinian militants for the destruction, saying fighters had barricaded themselves inside the facility.
